Less Is More …and A Thought About Rejections
And speaking of the revision process – it can be lonely. There are days when I want to share a tidbit of the latest with someone, but since I’ve only told a few people, it could easily get to the point of “enough about the book already!” My Beta readers (five total – you know who you are!) and about seven others – a couple family members, and coworkers (past/present), know about the book. But I’ve decided I should only talk about it so much, because I know it could get really boring for the person whose is having to listen to whether or not I should use the word depraved or twisted. Egad, I wouldn’t want to have to hear someone harp on that, give me earplugs – please!!
So, I keep it on the side of less is more. Although… I wonder what my face looks like when someone asks me, “how’s the book coming?” I bet I look like I just knocked back a giant latte, double shot of espresso, with whip cream too. Good thing I decided after a while that I’d be doing myself (and my friends!!) a favor to only share news that was worth sharing. (like that AWESOME review I had from the editor in mid October!!) It was the best yet – and I can happily say I’m 2/3’s done.
Less is more works with writing too. I’ll go back and re-read something I wrote the day before, and sit there puzzled. What am I trying to say and why am I trying to say it so profoundly? My protaganist is eleven years old for God’s sake! So, I put it in more simple terms and it seems to work – every time.
I’ve also been trying to prepare myself for the rejection bandwagon. I’ll tell you what was encouraging in a weird sort of way. Reading the article about how many rejections “THE HELP” had. Can we say sixty? Yes, you read it right, SIXTY – and look at it now. I loved reading about that, plus Kathryn Stockett’s article was downright funny. I wonder how many rejections I can stand? How many should I get before I move on and write a different book. After spending so much time on this one, literally years, it will be hard, not only to get them, but to have to accept them and move on.